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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28308057">steady now</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/hysteries/pseuds/hysteries'>hysteries</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Dimension 20 (Web Series)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Annabelle gives good advice, Arranged Marriage, Campaign 05: A Crown of Candy, Courtly Love, F/M, Falling In Love, Gen, Hijinks &amp; Shenanigans, Liam and Primsy are cute and live happily ever after!, Royalty</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 15:15:42</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,626</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28308057</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/hysteries/pseuds/hysteries</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>At the first ball of the newly re-established Lacramor court, Duchess Primsy Coldbottle introduces her betrothed to her nobility and has a difficult chat with her cousin. </p><p>Or, court politics are messy, but Primsy won't let them get in her way. </p><p>Or, Primsy is a strong, independent woman, who wants one particularly sweet man.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Annabelle Cheddar &amp; Primsy Coldbottle, Primsy Coldbottle/Liam Wilhelmina, Primsy Coldbottle/Liam Wilhelmina Jawbreaker</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>48</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Yuletide 2020</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>steady now</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/croissantkatie/gifts">croissantkatie</a>.</li>



    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Happy Yuletide season! This short little piece was written for croissantkatie, who asked in her prompt for A Crown of Candy: "How does Liam and Primsy’s relationship develop? What does Annabelle do after?" I fused these two questions together for this fun little snippet of a party scene, and voila! Thank you!</p><p>I love everything about A Crown of Candy and the lore behind the game, but especially the tenuous situation within the Dairy Islands. They should be completely fractured, but they're being held together by a pirate queen and an enormously competent teenager duchess. This fic was a fun way for me to use the existing lore in ACOC and mix it with my own studies in early modern history, and then to mix it all up again with my love for romantic comedy and the absolute babe Liam Wilhelmina. If you want to hear me wax on about this all, please come bother me @nellgwyns on Twitter, where I am constantly thinking about the ACOC PCs, NPCs, and world.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Liam Wilhelmina is a terrible dancer. Which is something that Primsy would’ve never guessed, given how adept he is at moving across the battlefield. She’s watched him float from shadow to shadow, never taking a tumble or misstep, gliding in a manner that’s entirely inhuman. Survivors of the recent war are already telling tales of how he dove from ship to another on the Dairy Sea, without a single enemy the wiser.</p><p>And yet, with his hand on her waist, he’s anything but graceful.</p><p>“Sorry!” He cries out again, moments after he’s stomped on her slippered foot for a third time. The first two times, she’d been able to smile through it. But a third heel on her little toe, and Primsy couldn’t help but let out a gasp.</p><p>“Oh, Liam, it’s quite alright —” She begins, but he interrupts her,</p><p>“You don’t have to lie to try to make me feel better!! Are you okay?” And right there, in the middle of Lacramor’s first ball since the war, he kneels on one knee.</p><p>Which is, of course, a cardinal mistake.</p><p>Because not only does Liam pick up her foot, throwing Primsy entirely off-balance, but he also draws the attention of the entire group of local nobles. Who see their duchess with her betrothed on one knee, and assume that, of course, that he’s proposing.</p><p>Two things happen at the same time:</p><p>First, the crowd bursts into scattered applause, and Primsy hears her cousin’s voice ring out in a groan.</p><p>Second, Liam tugs on Primsy’s leg, and she loses her balance entirely and begins to fall.</p><p><em>Begin</em> meaning start, because as she brings her hands up to protect her head, she’s caught by Liam. He shifts quickly, arms bracketing her, and bears her weight easily. He’s surprisingly strong; she would’ve thought that he’d teeter underneath her. But no, he holds Primsy firmly in his arms, and finishes the maneuver by pressing her back against his leg.</p><p>A dip, she understands after a moment. He’s turned her stumble into a dance.</p><p><em>Oh, Bulb above</em>.</p><p>She feels her face begin to grow warm as they linger in that position. His eyes are looking into hers, and Primsy’s never seen a more pleasing shade of pink. They’re as sweet as he is, sweeter than even the purest of unicorns. As if reading her mind, Liam grins at her. And in spite of their position, and in spite of the fact that they have a room full of nobles who don’t entirely trust her watching them, Primsy smiles back.</p><p>“Ahem,” her cousin’s voice rings out, and instantly, she curdles.</p><p>Her gaze leaves Liam and she catches sight of Annabelle towering above them. Her face is utterly unreadable, but her hands on her hips suggest that she is none-too-pleased with that turn of events. Around them, the applause stops, as the spectators seem to understand that this was not, in fact, a proposal.</p><p>“May I cut in?” Annabelle asks.</p><p>Primsy stares at her for a few long seconds, until Annabelle raises her eyebrows sharply.</p><p>“Oh, yes! By all means!” She smiles obligingly at her cousin and begins to rise.</p><p> Liam’s hand is at the small of her back, supporting her, and Primsy still feels warm at his touch. For the briefest moment after he stands, his hand remains; and then it’s gone, and he’s moved a foot away from her.</p><p>Primsy steps to the side, happy for her cousin to lead Liam in the next dance, but Annabelle raises her eyebrows again. This time, Primsy gets the message.</p><p>“If you’ll excuse me, Count Freezyburg.”</p><p>“Absolutely, my lady. Totally.” He hasn’t changed his language for court at all, and that only serves to warm Primsy to him even more. Genuine and true. That’s her Liam.</p><p>She executes a perfect curtsy while Liam fumbles through a bow before following her cousin towards the front of the room. Once there, Annabelle offers her a goblet of pure chocolate milk, which Primsy takes, careful not to sip more than a small amount. It’s powerful stuff, and she wants all her faculties for this conversation.</p><p>The expression on Annabelle’s face doesn’t change, but Primsy can feel a shift in the air. She means business.</p><p>“Primsy,” she starts, and Primsy smiles up at her cousin. Annabelle sighs. “Far be it from me to pressure you, or to say anything about marriage… but they’re getting restless. Can’t you feel it?”</p><p>Indeed, Primsy’s felt the court’s eyes on her all night. On the rare opportunity she hasn’t been glued to Liam, other nobles have thrust their sons and daughters into her path. Months earlier, Primsy may not have known what that meant, but now, she certainly did.</p><p>“I can indeed, cousin.” Primsy shifts slightly to put her back to the wall so she can better survey the crowd as she speaks to her cousin. A trick she learned from the Queen Caramelinda, who always seems to understand a room’s mood without asking a single question. Her nobles talk and drink and laugh, but underneath, she can feel an undercurrent of anxiety. A fear that they will be thrust into instability once more.</p><p>Annabelle lowers her voice. “One unmarried princess is bad enough.”</p><p>As Primsy hears the give in her cousin’s voice, she understands what she isn’t saying. <em>I can’t protect you the way I want to</em>. <em>Not from them.</em></p><p>To rule and be duchess is a dangerous game of its own. To be an indirect heir to the throne at a point when Candia has swallowed up four times its land mass and the church is in complete disarray is an outright disaster. Peace cannot be taken for granted. Primsy’s come to learn this the hard way.</p><p>“Fear not.” She plays a gloved hand on her cousin’s wrist, light and gentle.</p><p>“No?” Annabelle asks.</p><p>Primsy diverts her gaze to smile at Annabelle.</p><p>“No, please do not. I will be wed.” She nods solemnly. “It is a necessity, for the both of us.”</p><p>“Primsy,” Annabelle mutters, lines drawn across her face. Again, Primsy can read her meaning. She’s gotten rather good at that.</p><p>“A necessity,” Primsy begins, “And a pleasure.” She shifts to look back at the crowd, searching for Liam. He’s talking loudly to Ayran Salt, the young Lord of Doogh, who appears to be laughing uproariously at whatever’s Liam saying.</p><p>“Are you sure?” Annabelle’s voice is as gentle as it gets.</p><p>“Yes,” Primsy answers honestly. “Really sure, this time.”</p><p>She’s thought about it long and hard. Any girl would, after the only boy she’s ever loved sunk a dagger into gut. But try as she might, she can’t picture Liam doing such a thing. She’s seen his heart and she knows that it’s good. That he would never hurt a fly.</p><p>Annabelle sighs.</p><p>“Then he must propose.”</p><p>“Annabelle!” Primsy stage-whispers, scandalized. “You know that as reigning duchess, I have just as much of a right to!”</p><p>“You want to propose to Liam Wilhelmina?” Annabelle sounds impressed.</p><p>“Yes, I think that would be proper. Since he’d become my consort and the duke of my kingdom, and thus forfeit the rights to Candia,” she recites. She’s done careful research into this, since she first began to consider Liam as marriage material.</p><p>“Will you get down on one knee?”</p><p>“Perhaps.” But Primsy can’t stop herself from giggling at the thought. “Perhaps not. Perhaps you could give me a lesson?”</p><p>“A lesson in proposing to Candian boys?”</p><p>“No!” Her laughter grows in volume – Primsy can’t help it. “In being assertive. Chasing after what you want.”</p><p>When she looks back at her cousin, Annabelle’s eyeing her wearily. “I’ve already given your beloved advice on this. I think between the two of you, you should be able to figure it out.”</p><p>“Oh but Annabelle, I’ve never asked anyone to be my sweetheart before!” She cries earnestly. She’s never searched outside the castle for love, and Stilton (Bulb above, Primsy still shudders at that name) pursued her.</p><p>Annabelle shakes her head.</p><p>“You’re both utterly hopeless.” Primsy watches her cousin’s eyes flick towards the crowd. “And entirely too slow. Go on, ask him now.”</p><p>All of Primsy’s early confidence evaporates.</p><p>“Now?!” She squawks.</p><p>“You just agreed that this was urgent. No time like the present.” Near where Liam had touched her moments before, Annabelle shoves Primsy forward. She inelegantly steps back into the crowd. “Come on, duchess. Make him your duke.”</p><p>“But! I don’t even have a ring!”</p><p>“Easy remedy.” Annabelle laughs and, in the same breath, pulls something off her finger. “Catch!”</p><p>Primsy manages to catch the glittering silver band before it’s lost. As she examines it in her palm, she sees the waves of the Dairy Sea etched inside.</p><p>“I want that back once you get him a real one,” Annabelle warns.</p><p>“Annabelle, I can’t.” Primsy’s face is all hot again and she feels impossibly frightened. Almost as bad as when she saw Stilton’s ships headed straight for theirs in the Yogurt Shoals.</p><p>Annabelle reaches forward to give her another light shove. “Sure you can. Strong, independent woman, remember?”</p><p>Those words awaken Primsy. She hears them repeated in Princess Ruby’s voice, and then Princess Jet’s shout. <em>Strong, independent woman</em>. With the Candian princesses echoing through her head, she picks up the delicate lace of her skirt and takes a nervous step forward.</p><p>“Alright. A strong, independent woman,” she repeats, voice squeaking lightly on the words.</p><p>She hears a loud chuckle behind her.</p><p>“Strong, independent woman!” Annabelle shoves her shoulder one last time. “Now, go get your man!”</p><p>Bolstered by her cousin, Primsy finally re-enters the crowd, to finally put a ring on it (it being Liam’s impossibly soft hand) once and for all.</p><p>Or – maybe tomorrow.</p><p>Yes. She can be a strong, independent woman tomorrow.</p>
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